1. Field of the Invention
Preferred and non-limiting embodiments or aspects are related to an item storage and tracking cabinet and arrangement containing multiple and discrete items and, in particular, to an item storage and tracking cabinet and arrangement for securely tracking items with improved efficiency.
2. Description of Related Art
In many industrial and service applications, multiple items must be tracked for a variety of reasons. For example, these items may be tracked so that the user knows when additional items should be obtained or ordered, who is using the items and for what purpose, and for expensive items, a secure tracking system is required. Whether for security purposes or inventory purposes, an identification system can be developed in order to accurately track and manage a large amount of items, typically discrete and small items.
Health care delivery institutions, like hospitals, have a large amount of inventory to control throughout their system. Thousands of items move in and out of supply and operating rooms every day, and the system administrators would like to know exactly what items are being used, when they are being used, who is using them, and how often. At all times, it is preferable that all items be accounted for, and be stocked to an acceptable level.
In order to more effectively track items, supply cabinets have been developed, which provide inventory, accountability, and security of supplies, e.g., medical supplies. Some conventional art cabinets utilize manual input systems. To gain access to a cabinet, the user must input, on a keyboard, their access information, such as a PIN. A door to the cabinet is unlocked after the internal computer accepts the access information. The supply items are separated into bins, by type, and as a user takes out an item, they push a button, indicating that they have taken out that item. This action of manual input causes the system to decrement the item from inventory.
RFID-based supply cabinets have also been developed to more effectively track items. Conventional RFID-based supply cabinets for tracking items identify an RFID tag on each item by scanning each shelf in a cabinet in response to a door open/close event. The cabinet may contain one or more shelves. Based on conventional scanning technology, a time to scan each shelf in the cabinet may vary from 4 seconds to 20 seconds, depending on the type of items. For example, a time required to scan an eight-shelf cabinet is at least 32 seconds, i.e., 8 shelves multiplied by 4 seconds for each shelf. During scanning, the door to the cabinet must be locked, and the entire cabinet is unavailable to users. Usability of cabinets in high-traffic areas is problematic when scanning times are too long; for example, if a cabinet cluster contains 8 cabinets with each cabinet containing 8 shelves. However, reducing scanning time to less than 4 seconds per shelf using conventional scanning technology significantly reduces scanning accuracy. Accordingly, conventional storage, tracking, and inventory management systems are ineffective and/or inefficient in monitoring and tracking items stored therein.